Up to a foot of rain in some areas prompted a flash flood warning across northern Anne Arundel County Tuesday and sent firefighters scrambling on water rescues on several low lying roads.

Some parking lots at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport also were flooded temporarily, as was City Dock in Annapolis.

“We've got more going on right now that we can count,” said Lt. Russ Davies, a county fire department spokesman.

The majority of calls for help were reported in Linthicum, Brooklyn Park and Glen Burnie. Other incidents took place on Baltimore Annapolis Boulevard, Dorsey Road and Belle Grove Road, Davies said.

At 6 p.m., the National Weather Service estimated that nearly a foot of rain had fallen in parts of northern Anne Arundel. The 6.27 inches recorded at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport by 5 p.m. broke the old record of 4.91 inches, set in 1955.

Roads in south county were also affected. By 5 p.m., police said Central Avenue at Muddy Creek Road, Muddy Creek Road at Galesville Road, Londontown Road and Elkridge Road, Oakwood at Elkridge Road were all closed by flooding. Officials warned drivers to stay out of high water.

The calls for help began coming in around 1:15 p.m. The majority of calls appeared to be about motorists whose vehicles had stalled in the water, Davies said.

Davies reported via Twitter that county dispatchers and firefighters had handled 140 calls, including 26 water rescues, by 5 p.m.

One report recorded 7 inches near Riviera Beach in Pasadena.

“The rain is just coming down faster than the streams can handle,” Davies said.

Whitney Kidd, a spokeswoman at BWI, said the A and B long-term parking lots were flooded for about an hour, but she was unaware of any damaged cars or stranded motorists.

Bus service to the lots was canceled until the waters receded about 5 p.m. Flight operations were not affected.

The flash flood warning was in effect until 6:45 p.m., and another inch or two of rain is predicted overnight.

The fire department had also received some 40 calls for flooded basements in the area.

“I’m upstairs,” Amrhein said. “The kids said don’t go downstairs. I had to go downstairs and see and I wish to God I didn’t. You have to see it to believe it.”